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Coal gasification is the heating and partial combustion of coal to produce gases for efficient, clean-burning fuel. Integrated gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) is a gasification process for generating power with significantly lower emissions than standard pulverized coal (PC) processes. It is considered a Best Available Control Technology by some regulatory agencies, state legislatures (e.g., California), and public service commissions – and offers the ability to capture CO₂ for sequestration. However, IGCC often appears to utilities and regulators to be more expensive than advanced PC generation, at least if CO₂ capture and sequestration aren’t factored in. Another factor is the losses of efficiency that occur with IGCC at high elevations.

Coal gasification in general and IGCC in particular are potentially very important technologies for Wyoming, the nation, and the world. Last year, Governor Freudenthal and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a Memorandum of Understanding forming a joint task force to work with the U.S. Department of Energy to take advantage of federal funding opportunities for a commercial-scale IGCC coal project with carbon sequestration in Wyoming.

This seminar features presentations and discussions of key IGCC issues and their impact on the coal industry and future of power generation, as well as coal gasification to create chemicals and fuels, in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region.

COAL

GASIFICATION:

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

FOR WYOMING?

Free One-Day

Public Symposium